Julia Colleen Miller Linguistic Field Research on Doig River and Blueberry River dialects of Beaver (Athabaskan), 2002-2003

Beaver communities reside along the border between British Columbia and Alberta. The BC Beaver communities are Doig River, Blueberry River, Prophet River, and Halfway River. In Alberta they are Boyer River at Ft. Vermilion, Child Lake, in Eleske, and High Level Beaver First Nation.

The Blueberry River First Nations (BRFN) is located in northeastern British Columbia and is a member of the Treaty 8 First Nations. Ancestors of the BRFN occupied the land from the Rocky Mountains into northwestern Alberta where the Peace River flows for millennia. A proud and unified people, the BFRN exists today as a unified self-governing nation that ensure enhanced quality of life for current and future generations of their people to develop a sustainable, self-reliant and vibrant community that is built upon traditional and forward-thinking values.

(Source: Blueberry River First Nations, official website . Date Accessed: 01/25/23)

The Doig River First Nation (DRFN) peoples (Tsááʔ çhé ne dane) are descendants of the Dane-zaa peoples who have occupied the Peace River region of British Columbian and Alberta for thousands of years. Archaeological evidence from the Charlie Lake cave site shows that the area was occupied from at least 10,500 years ago by people who were hunting bison and other game. Tsááʔ çhé ne dane were one of the most important Dane-zaa groups, known as the original “First People” of the Peace River area. Oral history from First Nations as well as European documents, provide evidence of First Nations’ long-term subsistence on the lands in northeastern BC. Tsááʔ çhé ne dane (or Dane zaa) would hunt, gather, trap, and continue their cultural practices with other Dane-zaa kinship groups. These earliest inhabitants of the region were the ancestors of the Doig River and Blueberry River First Nations, or what was once known as the Fort St. John Beaver Band. Members seasonally traveled across the region to the areas of Montney, Dawson Creek, Grand Prairie, TeePee Creek, Dunvegan, and Clearhills. Today these locations are still considered core areas of DRFN’s Territory.

(Source: Doig River First Nation, official website . Date Accessed: 01/25/23)